18 Dec State And Prove Your Worth.
State and prove your worth.
That's seems the only requirement, these days, for estate agents and realtors.
Set aside for a minute the function of selling homes.
You're good at your job. But so too are others. Some perhaps, even better?
But the vendor knows diddly squat about what makes a good, great or mediocre agent.
That's a problem.
For them.
And especially for the estate agent.
Because vendors, that don't know they have a problem, are often very good at ignoring what any agent has to say.
Nevertheless, undaunted, you attempt to prove your worth - with data, awards and social proof.
The local property expert. With all the data to hand.
The top-producer with all the awards.
The five star reviews on TrustPilot.
Even attempts to educate the homeowner on what to look for.
Each a perfected and polished agent.
Stating the features and benefits of the service you offer.
No flaws. No mistakes. In the eyes of the vendor, no credibility.
Because nobody believes any agent could be that good.
Here's the problem.
Vendors aren't looking for the best realtor, or agent.
Were they, it would be a much easier decision.
They're not looking, either, for the cheapest agent.
Or the one that provides the highest valuation.
Again, were that the case, it would be simply a matter of hyperbole.
What matters most to any vendor, though, is something they're not prepared to tell you to your face.
Let's not hesitate.
It's you.
They're interested in you.
Not in what you do. Or even how you do it.
In you, my friend.
Can they trust you? Or, are you manipulating them for your own end?
Are you 'nice to know'?
Until they've worked out which agent is the best fit for them, they're uninterested in any grand conclusion to your presentation.
Naturally, that your agency is best.
If they're not switched on to you as a person, the sales pitch can be as perfect as possible, the facts can be unassailable and even the fee, less than they were hoping to pay. But in the context of them thinking you're not a good fit, none of that will matter to them.
Your reputation, as a realtor, precedes you.
Vendors are wary of estate agents and realtors. They've heard the stories!
Of course, an agent can hustle for their worth. Many do.
Some still quite successfully.
It's their nature to be competitive. To say and do whatever it takes to gain the instruction.
Oblivious to the fact that the world and his dog don't like being 'sold'.
Vendors are becoming more sophisticated and much harder to reach.
They can also spot the sales pitch, a mile off.
And the number of 'healthy' prospects for the driven agent, consequently, is becoming ever fewer.
Pretty soon, all that's left will be those vendors that don't care to learn about the process, or the people wanting instant gratification. With those vendors will come agents that set the bar so low it will hardly be worth a vendor's time to meet with them and hear what they have to say.
Estate agency, if it wasn't a commodity service before, will almost certainly become one in the future.
Unless there is a different solution.
The State and Prove method is just so dated,
And so open to different interpretation.
What's also dated, though, is the power of story and the necessity of personal brand. That is, however, the different solution.
Not a solution that improves on what you're already doing, but something entirely different.
Story has been around since the dark ages. It's a vehicle for leading others to think the way that we think.
Personal brand is more relevant now than ever, as consumers search the web for the information they need about anything and anyone. Done well, it builds an audience that follows your every word.
Slot story into personal brand and you have a recipe for success.
Telling vendors everything they need to know about your character, values and beliefs.
Taking them on the journey from where you were a few years ago to where you are now. Where you hope to be in the next few years.
Yet so few agents incorporate story, or personal brand, into their marketing.
Preferring instead to state and prove.
To hustle for their worth.
Why?
Because they've been taught that is the best way.
Even now, the world's self-proclaimed leading estate agency trainers are encouraging agents to double-down on their cold-calls. To knock on ever more doors. To have the right mindset.
All of which may work for a time, but all of which have two consequences.
They destroy your reputation. They position you and your agency as a commodity.
If reputation matters (it should) and you know that your agency is different (it is), hustling for your worth, in that way, is counter-productive.
It's setting the bar ever lower. Attracting vendors that truly don't care.
And when that well runs dry?
Your agency dies of thirst.
It's happening now.
The high-street closures. Not because of the threat from the online and hybrid models.
But because of the failure to ditch the state and prove methodology of estate agency.
It's time.
Time to ditch the dated and deceitful transactional sales model.
Time to embrace Story.
Time to embrace Personal Brand.
Time to change the way estate agency is offered.
Thanks, as always, for reading:)
If you'd like some help on personal brand, or story, just get in touch. My advice is always free.
chris@andsothestorybegan.co.uk
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